SQL Overview

Outlining SQL as the cornerstone of database activity

Applying the ANSI/ISO standards

Describing the fundamental building blocks: tables, columns, primary keys

and foreign keys

Building the Database Schema

Creating tables and columns

Building tables with CREATE TABLE

Modifying table structure with ALTER TABLE

Adding columns to an existing table

Removing tables with DROP TABLE

Protecting data integrity with constraints

Guaranteeing uniqueness with primary key constraints

Enforcing integrity with foreign key constraints

Imposing business rules with check constraints

Improving performance with indexes

Expediting data retrieval with indexes

Recommending guidelines for index creation

Manipulating Data
Modifying table contents

Adding table rows with INSERT

Changing row content with UPDATE

Removing rows with DELETE

Applying transactions

Controlling transactions with COMMIT and ROLLBACK

Deploying BEGIN TRANSACTION in SQL Server

Working with the SELECT Statement

Writing Single Table queries

Retrieving data with SELECT

Specifying column expressions

Sorting the result with ORDER BY

Handling NULL values in expressions

Restricting rows with the WHERE filter

Testing for equality or inequality

Applying wildcard characters

Avoiding NULL value pitfalls

Querying Multiple Tables

Applying the ANSI/ISO standard join syntax

Matching related rows with INNER JOIN

Including nonmatched rows with OUTER JOIN

Creating a Cartesian product with CROSS JOIN

Combining results with set operators

Stacking results with UNION

Identifying matching rows with INTERSECT

Utilizing EXCEPT to find nonmatching rows

Employing Functions in Data Retrieval

Processing data with row functions

Conditional formatting with the CASE expression

Utilizing the CASE expression to simulate IF tests

Dealing with NULL values

Performing analysis with aggregate functions

Summarizing data using SUM, AVG and COUNT

Finding the highest/lowest values with MAX and MIN

Defining the summary level with GROUP BY

Applying filter conditions with HAVING

Constructing Nested Queries

Applying subqueries in filter conditions

Correlated vs. noncorrelated subqueries

Testing the existence of rows

Including subqueries in expressions

Placing subqueries in the column list

Creating complex expressions containing subqueries

Handling subqueries that return no rows

Developing In-Line and Stored Views

Breaking down complex problems

Selecting data from a query result set

Subqueries in the FROM clause

Creating views in a database

Building reusable code

Updateable vs. non-updateable views